Electric lamp with external current supply contact



Oct. 24, 1967 w. F. TER HOEVE ELECTRIC LAMP WITH EXTERNAL CURRENT SUPPLY CONTACT Filed Nov. 2, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.2

- INVENTOR W/ALEM FPEflEfi/K 7'52 HdEVE Aga /U7 Oc 24, 1967 w. FLTEIR HOEVE ELECTRIC LAMP WITH EXTERNAL CURRENT SUPPLY CONTACT Filed Nov. 2, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. M1. LEM FEEDER/k r52 HOB/E 1967'. w. F. TER HOEVE ELECTRIC LAMP WITH EXTERNAL CURRENT SUPPLY CONTACT Filed Nov. 2, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 7

' INVENTOR. W/LLE/W FFEQEPK r5: f/OEVE gavvr g United States, Patent 3,349,277 ELECTRIC LAMP WITH EXTERNAL CURRENT SUPPLY CONTACT Willem Frederik ter Hoeve, Ouderkerk aan den Amstel,

Netherlands, assignor to North American Philips Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware.

Filed Nov. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 408,105 Claims priority, application Netherlands, Nov. 1, 1963,

300 048 6 Claims. Cl. 313-318) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention relates to an electric lamp or discharge tube, the vessel of which is formed by a bulb and one or more stems provided with a flange-shaped part, sealed to the bulb of the lamp or tube, the current supply contacts being formed by those parts of the current supply conductors sealed in one or more stems which are located outside the vessel of the lamp or tube. With such a lamp or tube, known as capless lamps or tubes the emerging current conductors themselves serve as current supply contacts. With the known lamps or tubes the term stem is to denote, in general, a closing member provided with a flange and supporting the light emitting part and provided frequently with a tube. During the manufacture of such a lamp or tube, usually the widest part of the stem is sealed to the bulb. The flange may have a flat or conical shape.

With the known lamp or tube the ends of the more or less flexible current conductors emerging from the vessel must be arranged in position relatively to the vessel by a separate operation in order to secure them to the lamp or tube vessel by separate means. In this manner it is ensured that the current conductors remain at their predetermined places. This is important because with such a lamp or tube the contact members must be capable of establishing a rigid contact with the conductors serving as external current supply contacts.

The invention has for its object to provide a lamp or tube structure in which the subsequent connection of the emerging, more or less flexible current supply conductors with the aid of separate fastening means can be completely dispensed with.

The lamp or tube according to the invention is characterized in that at least part of the current conductors serving as external supply contacts is sealed in the sealing zone between the stem concerned and the bulb of the lamp or tube. Before the stem is sealed to the bulb, the ends concerned of the supply conductors are held in the sealing zone between the stem and the bulb and subsequently, the flange-shaped part of the stem is sealed to the bulb. In this manner the ends of the supply conductors can be rigidly secured to the vessel of the lamp or tube.

In a further embodiment of the lamp or tube according to the invention the current conductors extend along the side of the flange-shaped .part remote from the interior of the vessel. Consequently, the external current conductors of such a lamp-or tube will be taut to'a greater or lesser extent between the place where the conductors emerge from the vessel and the zone where the ends of the conductors are sealed in the sealing zone. Thus not only the ends but also the more or less taut parts of Patented Oct. 24, 1967 the conductors stay at their predetermined places when a rigid electric contact is established. The wall of the vessel may serve as a support for the conductors when the contact is established.

For suitably fastening the lamp or tube according to the invention for example in a holder of a lighting fitting, for instance, the vessel is provided near the sealing zone with interrupted or non-interrupted local variations of the profile. Said variations may be provided in the wall of the bulb, for example in the case of flat, flange-shaped stem portions of stem supports. The profile variations may, however, also be provided at the area of the flangeshaped portion, for example, if the latter is funnel-shaped, for example in the case of stem tubes. The use of such profile variations, which may be formed by grooves extending transversely of the longitudinal direction of the vessel, by depressions or by protuberances, permits in particular of obtaining a rigid snap joint between the lamp or tube and, for example the holder of a lighting fitting.

With the lamp or tube according to the invention the two current conductors emerging from the stem can be arranged at their ends in the sealing zone. As an alternative, in a further embodiment of the lamp or tube according-to the invention one of the current conductors is arranged in the sealing zone of the vessel, Whereas the other conductor emerges through the exhaust tube associated with the stem.

The invention also applies to lamps or tubes comprising the conventional cap or base. In the embodiment concerned the vessel is provided with a cap or base or the like fastened by a snap joint, the side facing the vessel being provided with contact members co-operating with current conductors on the outer side of the vessel, serving as external current supply conductors. With such lamps or tubes comprising a cap or base or the like an important advantage .is obtained as compared with the conventional capped lamps or tubes, in that a few conventional operations may be omitted. These operations are, for example, the introduction of a current conductor emerging from the vessel through a narrow opening of a cap or fitting and the cutting 011" of the conductor and the fastening of the end of a conductor to the cap or base. Owing to the snap joint a further conventional operation, the socalled capping may be dispensed with.

The invention will be described more fully with reference to the drawing, which shows a few embodiments;

FIG. 1 shows a lamp in which the ends of the current conductors are arranged in sealing zones in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates the possible arrangement of the ends of the current conductors emerging from a lamp vessel in the sealing zone.

FIG. 3 illustrates the arrangement of current conductors emerging from the stem system in the sealing zone between the stem system and the wall of a tube.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 show a lamp with a cap; FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line IVIV of FIG. 5 and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line VV in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the associated cap, which is shown in FIG. 4 separately from the lamp.

FIG. 7 shows a tube provided with a cap.

The lamp shown partly in FIG. 1 comprises stems 1 and 3, each having a funnel-shaped portion 5 and being sealed with their widest circumference to a glass bulb 7. A number of current conductors 9 emerge from each stem.

In accordance with the invention the free ends of the conductors are arranged at 11 in the sealing zone between a stem (1 or 3) and the bulb 7, so that the portions of O the current conductors located between the place of emergence 13 and the zone 11 can establish an external electric contact without the conductors being shifted in place. Consequently, some of the conductors may serve as external current supply contacts.

The arrangement of the ends of the more or less straight conductors 16 in the sealing zone 11 is illustrated in FIG. 2. First the conductors 16 emerging from the stem 1 are stretched around the widest edge of a funnelshaped portion 5. Then the glass stem 1 is arranged with its flange-shaped portion inside the bulb 7. Subsequently, with the aid of flames 18 the stem 1 is sealed to the bulb 7. Consequently, the ends of the conductors 9 are fastened simultaneously with the seal between the stem 1 and the bulb 7. This fastening does therefore not require a separate operation.

FIG. 3 shows the situation for sealing a stem formed by a support 21 to a bulb 23. Conductors 25 and 26 emerge from the support 21. Before the sealing operation, said conductors are bent around the edge of the flat flange (at 27). Then the bulb 23 is disposed on the edge of the support 21. By means of flames 28 the sealing operation is then performed. Also in this case the ends of the conductors 26 are held in the sealing zone.

The lamp shown in FIG. 1 can be mounted in a holder 17 by snapping the vessel onto the resilient contact tags of said holder. The bent-over parts 19 of the tags 15 will urge the conductors concerned into the profile variations at 12, so that a rigid contact is established with the conductors 9. Consequently, in the structure shown in FIG. 1, the two functions i.e. fastening of the lamp vessel to the holder of a lighting fitting and the establishment of an electric contact can be fulfilled by the same resilient tags.

The invention is also suitable for lamps and tubes having a cap, base or the like for mounting in conventional lighting fittings, holders and the like. In this case also the cap, base or the like must be provided with contact members capable of establishing an electric contact with the current conductors serving as external current supply contacts for the lamp or tube vessel. The cap, base or the like must be connectable to the vessel. Such a cap, base or the like slightly resembles the holder 17 of FIG. 7, but it must also be provided with for example external contact pins and external screw thread or the like. With the lamp shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 this is shown for the cap 32 of electrically insulating material, provided with contact pins 33.

With the lamp shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 the two functions i.e. the establishment of an electric contact and the fastening of the cap 32 to the vessel are fulfilled by different members. The contact pins are electrically coupled with resilient tags 35. The cap 32 is furthermore connected to a bracket provided with two further resilient tags 37. The wall of the vessel 31 has two grooves 41. By disposing the cap 32 on the vessel 31 in the position shown in FIG. 5 the bent-over portions 43 of the tags 37 can snap into the grooves 41. The tags 35 thus establish a rigid electric contact with the conductors 45.

For fastening a suitable cap or base to the lamp or tube according to the invention the interrupted or noninterrupted local profile variations may, of course, also be provided in the wall of the bulb of the lamp or tube. This is shown for the gas discharge lamp illustrated partly in FIG. 7. The upright side wall of the lamp has a fluted portion 51, into which can snap resilient tags 55, fastened to the cap 53, when the cap 53 is disposed on the lamp. The electric contact is thus again established by means of only one set of resilient tags.

In the foregoing it is supposed that each current conductor emerging from a stem is guided along the flangeshaped portion of the stem and that the end is arranged in the sealing zone. However, the invention also applies to the case in which at least one of the conductors (58) emerges through a stem (59) of the support 3, which is shown by way of example in FIG. 1.

What is claimed is:

1. An electric lamp comprising an envelope, a stern having a flange portion sealed to said envelope, and a current conductor sealed in said stem and having a portion external to and contiguous with said stern serving as an external current contact, said external portion of said current conductor being sealed only at the end thereof between the flange and the bulb.

2. An electric lamp comprising an envelope, a stem having a flange portion sealed to said envelope, and a current conductor sealed in said stem and having a portion extending contiguously along an external surface of the flange serving as an external current contact, only the end of said conductor being sealed between the flange and the envelope.

3. An electric lamp comprising an envelope, a stem having a flange portion sealed to said envelope, and a current conductor sealed in said stem and having a portion extending contiguously along an external surface of the flange serving as an external current contact, only the end of said conductor being sealed between the flange and the envelope, the envelope having an interrupted profile variation in the vicinity of the seal between the flange and the envelope.

4. An electric lamp comprising an envelope, a stem having a flange portion sealed to said envelope, and a current conductor sealed in said stem and having a portion extending contiguously along an external surface of the flange serving as an external current contact, only the end of said conductor being sealed between the flange and the envelope, the envelope having an uninterrupted profile variation in the vicinity of the seal between the flange and the envelope.

5. An electric lamp comprising an envelope, a stem having a flange portion sealed to said envelope, said stem having an exhaust tube, a first conductor extending through said exhaust tube, and a second current conductor sealed in said stem and having a portion external to said envelope and contiguous with said stem serving as an external current contact, only the end of said external portion of said second conductor being sealed between said envelope and said stem.

6. An electric lamp comprising an envelope, a stem having a flange portion sealed to said envelope, a conductor sealed in said stem and having a portion external to and contiguous with said stem the end only of which is sealed between the flange and the envelope, a member fitting over said flange, and a current contact member on the side of said member facing said flange positioned to cooperate with said external conductor to provide an external current supply contact for said lamp.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 870,341 11/1907 Boehm 313-318 1,727,826 9/1929 Harris 3 133 18 1,914,702 6/1933 Peth 313318 1,946,104 2/ 1934 =Ohara et a1. 313318 2,359,483 10/ 1944 Kuebier 3 133 18 FOREIGN PATENTS 734,789 4/1943 Germany.

60,853 2/ 1948 Holland.

JOHN W. HUCK-ERT, Primary Examiner.

A. J. JAMES, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN ELECTRIC LAMP COMPRISING AN ENVELOPE, A STEM HAVING A FLANGE PORTION SEALED TO SAID ENVELOPE, AND A CURRENT CONDUCTOR SEALED IN SAID STEM AND HAVING A PORTION EXTERNAL TO AND CONTIGUOUS WITH SAID STEM SERVING AS AN EXTERNAL CURRENT CONTACT, SAID EXTERNAL PORTION OF SAID CURRENT CONDUCTOR BEING SEALED ONLY AT THE END THEREOF BETWEEN THE FLANGE AND THE BULB. 